The present invention relates to a driver for a boring and/or ram boring device.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
A driver of a type involved here includes a rod assembly which operates in two opposite directions, whereby the operating force in each of the two directions is required to be transmitted reliably and rapidly by a common motion drive in each of the two directions.
In addition, the kinetic energy should be able to substantially act at any location of the rod assembly, normally a pipeline. This is typically implemented in known devices with the assistance of drivers or engagement edges on the rod assembly which are subjected not only to particular wear but may constitute also the cause for damage or accidents. Moreover, the driver must be positioned accurately in relation to the rod assembly and the connection between driver and rod assembly is difficult to realize.
Another problem associated with a driver of this type is the realization of a required sufficiently firm formfit in order to attain a secure grip of the rod assembly without slippage that results in damage to the rod assembly. In addition, the reversal of movement, for example when providing a pilot borehole in the one direction and reversing the direction when drawing in a pipeline, is technically very complex to implement.
Another approach involves the use of a tension clamp which enables a reliable force transfer when tackles are involved but is effective in only one direction even though practice requires two effective directions, namely pull and push.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved rod assembly driver to obviate prior art shortcomings and to allow a reversal of movement in a simple manner in the absence of any measures on the pipeline.